Heritage board hopes to preserve pieces of Summerside buildings

Four downtown Summerside buildings are one step closer to being demolished but not without efforts to preserve the facades of two of them.

The city purchased the former Royal Bank, Crockett's Jewelry building, the former Cooke Building, and the Regent building which wrap around the corner of Water and Summer streets with plans to demolish them so the property can be redeveloped.

In reviewing the plan, the Summerside Heritage Planning Board voted unanimously in favour of recommending the removal of the former Cooke Building and the Regent building, but the board wants the facades of the old Royal Bank and Crockett's Jewelry preserved.

"The buildings would still come down, " said Coun. Brian McFeely, the chair of the heritage planning board, after the board's meeting Tuesday.

"In that effort of them coming down, if there's a possibility of retaining anything, then those efforts should be made."

'Balancing act'

Crockett's Jewelry store was built in 1919. Even though it's not in its original state, said McFeely, a point was brought up in the meeting regarding the possibility that underneath the current exterior are pieces of history.

"We should take care to at least explore that during the demolition."

The city paid just over $900,000 for the properties. While they are located in a heritage district, they are not designated heritage sites.

"There's been so many renovations done over the years to those buildings that I think they've lost their historic look anyway," said Coun. Barb Ramsay during the meeting.

"The shape the buildings are in right now, I think a hole in the ground would look better."

McFeely said the goal is to revitalize the downtown core while at the same time remembering the city's roots.

"There are ways to do that as we move forward so that we are, you know, preserving some of our history and recognizing and acknowledging, kind of, where we came from on that corner," he said.

"It's a fine balancing act."

Moving forward

Summersidecouncil will review the recommendation during their monthly meetingon Aug.17.

After that, McFeely said things will either move forward or "We will go back to the drawing board," and decide how to proceed.

For McFeely, though, the ideal outcome would involve bringing a piece of the city's history with it to navigate the future.

"At the end of the day, that's the important thing for me," he said.

"To see the downtown revitalized at the same time as being respectful of our past."

More from CBC P.E.I.